Pokemon: Valourous Violet
by Yakom Tskatsuki
Summary: The bond between man and Pokémon is undeniably a beautiful circumstance of nature. However, Pokémon and humans alike are still dangerous to themselves and each other. Leonardo has learned firsthand that fact, and is trying his hardest to make it in a world that is more dangerous than it lets on.
1. Loss

**(A/N): Wus boppin' bois? Yakom here, sorry about never updating, I've just been caught up in a few things. One of which being Wave TV, which is a broadcasting show my school does, so I guess look it up on YouTube? Bragging rights to whomever figures out which one is me. I digress, I just got back into Pokemon what with the announcement of Pokemon Sword and Shield, so I decided to do something on that, 'cause if I'm being real, I haven't watched RWBY since season four. I thought to do this instead. So yeah, let's do this.**

Leonardo Diaz was a bit overdue for his Pokemon adventure. He turned ten-years-old and he said: "Nah, Professor Eucalyptus is too far. I'll go tomorrow". Then, again he said the same thing the next day, and they day after that. Soon a week turned into a month, then two, six, nine. Suddenly Leo realized his eighteenth birthday was next week and he had yet to receive a Pokemon, but it was only because he was comfortable where he was. Though, admittedly he should probably go now. His days in this house were numbered. Unfortunately there were Pokemon swarming route 901 on the way to the professor's lab. So he enlisted some help.

"Alright Leo, let's go! Amber is waiting!" His mom called up into his room.

"I got it, I got it!" Leo called back, readying up just this last bit.

He had a bag ready to go, a few potions and pokeballs inside for the start of his journey. He next to leaped down the stairs taking the case four stairs at a time. He jumped to his mother with a kiss on the cheek before hopping out the door with a rushed goodbye. He'd be back soon anyways. When he stepped outside he said hello to his escort to the lab.

"Hey Amber! Thanks for bringing me out to the lab with you."

"Of course," She smiled wide. "Think of it as a present to remember me by. I won't be back for a long time."

"I know, but I have to ask. You could've been champion of the Valour Region; why'd you turn it down?"

"That's easy. Why be the champion of one region when you can rule them all? Once you have your pokemon, I'm takin' the next ferry to Castelia City in the Unova Region. I'll start there," She paused and looked to him. "By the by, you're lookin' pretty fresh, like the outfit."

"Thanks, I try." Leo replied quickly.

He had looked through his entire wardrobe, but he settled on something simple. Some black skinny jeans and a black button up shirt with small burgundy triangles patterned on it. He didn't put on a hat, he saw new trainers with 'em all the time and he just couldn't get behind it.

"You ready?" She asked, just a bit ahead of him.

He took notice of the rest of her, a bright white sundress with sitrus berries on it and a white sun hat. What was it with pokemon trainers and hats?

"Yeah, let's go."

Leo took his place beside her and they marched onto route 901. For the most part it was an uneventful trip, a Rattata here, Kakuna there. All swiftly dealt with by Amber's Electivire. They took care to use non-lethal moves, wrap being used most often. People seemed to misunderstand that even if the pokemon only 'fainted', there are still possibilities of more serious and permanent damage to the pokemon people seemed to be overlooking. That's why the Elite Four and their champion had come together to pass legislation to help avoid the unnecessary death of wild pokemon. Considering her standing, even Amber was involved; acting as an ambassador for Professor Eucalyptus and a standing Pokemon Champion. They created 'faint-boxes', a machine issued to all pokemon trainers. Under law, a trainer is required to capture fainted pokemon in the box and present it to the charge nurse at the pokemon center so they may aid the pokemon inside; where the trainer is then required to release them back into the wild. The law was held to critical acclaim as both man and pokemon alike rejoiced under a safer region. Amber is no doubt traveling to spread the word on the faint-box as well. She was a pioneer for human-pokemon relations. An impressive feat for an age where the relationship between the two groups couldn't be better, and at only seventeen. Leo only sighed to himself, he could've been great too. If only he had taken his chance when he did. Though, he wasn't out of the game, no, he only just joined. This was his chance to be just as great as Amber, if not better. He told himself he'd find her after he beat the Elite Four. Then they'll travel through the rest of the regions together. Not that she knew he wanted to come with. He hadn't let himself voice it.

Suddenly rain fell upon them. _But it was only just a sunny day a second ago._ They thought nothing of it and started sprinting down through the next town over and onto route 902, but they were stopped swiftly in their tracks by a screeching sound that tore through the air. Leo covered his ears and squinted his eyes shut, waiting for the noise to subside. Instead someone called out to him.

"Leo! Look out!" Amber shouted.

When Leo looked up, he was met with a horror he never thought he'd see so early. He saw blood, a lot of it. Though it wasn't just the blood he was scared of, but what it was clinging to. He met the eyes of a Steelix, and behind it was a path of death and destruction. The bloody, mutilated corpses of people and pokemon alike. The Steelix rushed past him to attack Amber's Electivire, but he was gashed deep in the chest by the Steelix's protruding iron blades coming off its body. He fell to the ground, bleeding on the soil beneath him. He managed to stand despite the pain and turn to face Amber, who wore a face of utmost confidence.

"Are you okay? Quick, run to the city and get help for the other people, I'll take the Steelix."

Without the courage to speak, Leo only ran in the direction of the city. He rushed as fast as his legs would allow, but he knew he wouldn't make it. Amber hadn't seen his wound, and he was glad she didn't. He would surely bleed to death. Though, just before his legs gave out he heard a peculiar sound to his left, like a large motor revving up. He turned just in time to see a bright flash of light that crashed into him, and he was sent flying into the thick of the forest on his right and collided with a tree before hitting the ground with a heavy thud. With what little strength he had left, he found it in him to run away from the threat. He stumbled over roots, Oddishes, Hoppips, and Bounsweets trying to escape. Over time it got darker, and it was getting harder and harder to continue, but Leo found respite in a large house in a state of severe disrepair.

Stepping into the foyer without a word, Leo collapsed onto the ground. Turning to his back and tossing his bag to his side, he lay still. He was getting light headed, and his vision was darkening at the edges. _Yeah, this is it for me isn't it? _He thought to himself._ What a damn shame, and I thought that maybe I could go with her one day? What a joke._ His breathing became shallow, and it was near impossible to keep his eyes open any longer.

"I'm sorry Amber. I love you though."

He submitted to his death and went on to sleep peacefully. Death seemed warmer than he once thought, as slowly his body was engulfed in a sweltering heat, and he thought he saw-through his blurring vision-bright round yellow eyes. He ignored it and accepted the heat. It felt nice.

Leonardo woke with a start, but quickly regretted it. He cringed as pain tore through his chest. He was burned. No, that was too crude an observation. Rather, it was as if someone had cauterized his wound. He wasn't bleeding any more. _But it hurts like a bitch! _He managed to sit up; as long as he kept his movement minimal, it wouldn't hurt. He moved his leg to stand but his leg bumped into something. He looked down to see what he least expected. A pokemon egg. Like something had just left it there for him. He picked it up, it seemed hardly bigger than a foot tall and could put it in his bag. So that's what he did. Why not take it with him? It only made sense for him to, if it was left on top of him he could only assume it was for him in some way, right? He couldn't wait to tell Amber. _Amber!_

He shot to his feet and sprinted through the forest, back the direction he came. When he stepped onto route 902 he couldn't believe the destruction and devastation left behind by the Steelix. He took notice that it was night now, and that the rain strangely carried on. He took to looking for Amber in fear of his surroundings, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw. At his feet he came face to face with the lifeless eyes of Amber's Electivire. Bile rose in his throat when he couldn't find the lower half of its body, as it had been torn off. Around him, were more mounds of flesh and blood; each loosely resembling another member of Amber's team. Their respective pokeballs were crushed and in pieces around the ground. At the centre of it all, among torn up ground, ice shards, and steel pikes, was Amber. Leo fell to the ground and crawled to her so he could hold her in his arms, but her eyes were devoid of life. He pulled a strange luminescent crystal out of her, as it had been plunged into her body.

"Come on Amber, wake up," He whispered. "You got this champ, right? You're the champion, you can't lose," He shook her lightly, but her head only limply bobbed in response. "If you don't wake up, you'll miss your ferry. You'll be stuck here with me," Tears welled up in Leo's eyes and he knew he was lying to himself, but he preferred it to the alternative. "You don't want to be stuck with me right?"

He heard a guttural scream of pain and agony rip through the air, and it was only when his throat burned that he realized it was him. He was screaming alone for the one he loved. He missed her already.

Leo couldn't remember what day it was, or how long it had been. A few days most likely. He was too preoccupied to care, because he had been looking through something important. Amber had the foresight to make a will an a world filled to the brim with dangerous monsters and evil organizations out to steal all they held dear, and she had left him her Pokedex. For the past week he had been sifting through the entries on pokemon, her observations of their behaviors and composition. She also had a diary written on it, a lexicon of her travels across the region and the people she's met. Most importantly, how much she missed him while she was gone. How much she wanted to see him. The last entry was dated the day before her death.

_I've done all I can here in Valour, so I'm off to Unova to continue the pursuit of being the very best. Not until I see Leo off. He's getting his own pokemon and I want to see him battle at least once. To know that maybe one day I'll see him again. To see him chase after me is all I want. Honestly I can't wait to see what he does, because I don't doubt he'll do just that. I love him, I've come to realize. I just hope he'll come to see me again. _

He read through more, whenever he could. Stopping only to sleep, as he held close the pokemon egg from that night. In fact, it never left his sight. When he sat to eat in his dining room, it sat in his lap. When he laid on the couch, he held it to his chest as he read the pokedex. It was so warm, and it helped against the dull ache of the scar on his chest. He had been treated for heavy blood loss and he was lucky that there were no adverse effects on his body. Though he never did figure out what had cauterized his wound, or what had left the egg behind. He'd figure it out when it hatched.

On the morning of his birthday, something shook him gently, seemingly to wake him. However, when he opened his eyes, no one was there. Instead he felt the egg in his arms shake again, but harder this time. Startled, Leo jumped out of bed and tossed a pillow to the floor before gently placing the egg on it. As it shook, cracks slowly formed. Leo smiled for what felt like the first time in his life as the egg hatched. Finally a small chunk of the egg fell to the floor, and what happened next caught Leo off guard. A white ooze spilled out of the small opening, leaving the rest of the egg untouched. The ooze slowly climbed over itself, forming into a vaguely cylindrical shape. At the top appeared what seemed to be a small black thread that came alight with a cyan flame, and out from the body formed one piercing green eye. Stunned, Leo just pointed the pokedex at it.

_Number 151: Litwick - Candle Pokemon_

_Ghost / Fire_

_The flame that appears on this pokemon's head grows larger as it absorbs the life of others._

Leo could only chuckle nervously as he stared at the seemingly confused Litwick. He noticed that the pokedex determined that it was a girl, and that she was very different from others. That her eye and flame held a different colour to a normal Litwick.

"You won't steal my soul, right?"

The Litwick only danced in place before rolling on her melted wax bottom towards him. Leo froze in place, fearing the worst, but he was only met with a hug. Well, the best hug the Litwick could manage being only a foot tall. Astonished by this, Leo picked up the Litwick under her arms and held her above his face, her wax slightly overflowing past Leo's thumbs. She waved her arms up and down, like she was cheering. This was it, this was Leonardo's first pokemon, and he loved her with all his soul already. He hugged her close and she slightly smushed outwards against his chest. This was the warmth he felt. Tears streamed down his face. He knew now what he'd do next. He would train this Litwick, and be a pokemon trainer. He would go out into the world and get all the gym badges, and be the Elite Four. He would become the champion. Then, he would go to the Unova region and start again. He would become the very best, and he would do it for Amber.

"Hey, your name is Ember now, got it?" He only received a small light show in response. "Of course, happy birthday."

**(A/N): I came up with this idea surprisingly fast. I just thought to myself, hey, pokemon are actually really fuckin' dangerous. How the fuck are people not dying left and right? So I decided to go the big sad on this. I feel like it could've been fleshed out better though. I think I have a good idea of what to do next, so expect more in the future!**


	2. Hello Cherrubi!

"Oof, I'm sorry, mate," Leonardo whispered to the Starley as it fell to the ground unconscious. "Well, uh, another for the collection?" Leo pulled from his back a steel box no bigger than a briefcase and clicked the button on the top length-wise side; the box shifted and folded in his arms as the gears and mechanisms slowly formed a vaguely rifle-like shape.

This was a faint-box, and he'd received it in the mail from the Valour League after putting in the paperwork for his trainer license. That's right, he was a Pokémon trainer now, and it was really exciting. Though, it wasn't just exciting for him. Leonardo looked over to his Ember having become impatient and wandered off to go roast a Rattata not far off. Maybe they spent too much time on 901, this was a bit too easy.

"Ember," He sighed. "You could at least wait for me to clean up your mess." Leo pointed the faint-box at the Starley and it disappeared in a quick flash of light, and he moved to take care of the fresh cooked Rattata.

It was a marvel of technology he had, not necessarily because of it's technical complexity-it was pretty much just a portable PC with one box of space-rather, it's strong impact on the environment. Up until a few months ago, Rattatas were on the endangered species list and were on the verge of extinction because of just how pathetically weak they are. They couldn't fly to escape trainers, nor were they particularly fast, and they had no outstanding defense mechanisms; they were nature's perfect punching-bag. So, when trainers or even just other wild Pokémon decided to attack, they just kind of died. Then left to rot, as their fur wasn't valuable, their meat tasted terrible no matter how it was cooked, and their bones were even too weak to make anything of them. Really a Rattata has no use, like, to anyone, dead or alive. However, now with the faint-box arriving to the scene, Rattatas no longer have to die needlessly for no reason.

"Ember, come 'ere yea'?" Leo called out to his Litwick before she went to chase off a Burmy, but even though she had been cheerfully running to him when he called, Leo noticed her form break a little, only a second, but it was there. "A-are you hurt!? Ah, I should've took you in to rest a bit sooner. I'm so sorry!"

Seemingly ashamed, Ember relaxed her form a bit and her light dimmed, as if she had been attempting to hide it. Leo bent down, brining his knees to his chest, to get closer to her.

"Hey, it's okay. I just want to make sure you're okay. Let's go to the Pokémon Centre and get you patched up."

Leonardo brought his hand out in front of him, and Ember rolled forward as her flame went out and she dissolved onto his arm, rolling up into his shirt through its sleeve. Just a small bit of wax emerged out from the collar of his shirt, the wick returned and her flame was alight again in its beautiful blue beauty. Ah yes, now his face was warm, as was his body. He really liked this feeling, especially as it neared the winter. October just ended after all. _Well, off the Pokémon Centre._

At least, that was the plan. His walk was interrupted by a Cherrubi waddling past him in a hurry; its smaller head bobbing up and down in distress. _What in the goddamn-? _Without being given the opportunity to gather his thoughts, a strange winged Pokémon crossed his path again. _Is that a fuckin' Crobat? No it cant be, it doesn't have enough wings, and Crowbats can't walk. _He decided his Pokédex should be able to help. Strangely enough, Amber's 'dex didn't have any data on this; however, Leo managed to recover some files off of a different researcher, who's entries were open source. His name was Calem it seems.

_Number 714: Noibat - The Sound Wave Pokémon_

_Flying/Dragon_

_Fruits are its favourite foods This gourmet carefully picks out the just ripe ones using its sonar._

_That's not good for that Cherrubi_. Leo decided that he would help, but he didn't think Ember would be up for this one, or rather he wouldn't let her be. He decided on what to do very quickly considering. Right before the Noibat was able to take a bite out of that Cherrubi, Leo scooped it up and ran off. He held the Cherrubi to his chest as he ran, and strangly enough the Noibat didn't catch up. For some reason it wasn't flying after them, or flying at all even. _Well, at least we got away._

Letting go of the Cherrubi a tad too fast, it stumbled back and almost toppled over. Upon closer inspection, this Cherrubi was in a troubling condition: its leaves were cut up and a few chunks of its backside were missing, and its second head was dry and shriveling. It was trembling, a lot.

"Hey, it's okay. I promise," Leo reached out just a little, but pulled back when the Cherrubi flinched. "Ah, I'm sorry." He did notice that despite every chance, this Cherrubi hadn't ran. So, he decided to wait for it, he didn't know why. Probably because he was worried for it.

* * *

Some time had passed, and nothing had really happened. He didn't really make any advances, not did the Cherrubi. Ember did though, her playful dances seemed to speak to it, if only a little bit. Otherwise, no progress had been made, that was until the Cherrubi's eyes began to dull, and it slowly stumbled forward and fell onto Leo. It looked up at him for a moment before leaning into his legs, its breathing became labored. _Oh fuck, that's bad_. He had wasted time, a lot! He scooped the berry up once more and rushed to Victor Town, hopefully it wasn't to late.

* * *

Upon entering the doors to the Pokémon Centre and approaching the charge nurse, Leo realized he had a bit of the troubling problem.

"Hello, sir, and welcome to Victor Town's Pokémon Centre, would you like me to heal your Pokémon?" The charge nurse joyfully asked, only slightly undercut by how soullessly scripted it was. He could tell she was nearing the end of her shift, it was just that attitude, y'know?

"Um, hi, yes. I would like... that." Leo trailed off.

"Right, now if you would just pass me your pokéballs for just a moment." She slowly panned her head to the open flame perched upon his shoulder.

"Yeah, about that."

"Your Pokémon are capless?" She sighed, and Leo could see why. That made things quite troublesome. Capless Pokémon, or Pokémon without pokéballs to their name, wouldn't be able to be hooked up to the machine. It wasn't until she looked down at the Cherrubi that she spoke in a hurry. "Oh wait!" The nurse lit up. "I can do the thing! Follow me."

Leo was admittedly very confused by her sudden change in demeanor.

"F-what, uh, what's going on?" He asked.

"Well, you know what day it is right?" She inquired in a rather 'don't you know' kind of tone.

"Thursday," He answered simply, and it was only when he was met with a stare that could only be described with 'really?' that he reevaluated. "November the Seventh, why?" Though he didn't wait for her answer, as he had quickly exclaimed an "Oh yeah!"

He had been waiting for this day for some time. At least that was until Amber's death, admittedly a bit distracting in the grand scheme of things. See, today was the launch date for what is now final project that Amber managed to complete in her life time. Amber was a firm believer that a capless Pokémon was a happy Pokémon, and her rise to power helped spread that idea. However, the problem soon presented itself, that our current society was so wired to the convenience of the pokéball that League sanctioned facilities wouldn't be able to compensate for the lifestyle of a capless trainer. So, Amber set out to solve that problem.

"So this is it? The prototype looked much uglier, I must say." Leo commented, having been invited to see the development of this problem's solution first-hand.

That solution was a cylindrical glass chamber stretching up to just about two and a half meters tall, maybe a meter and a half wide? Leo couldn't quite eyeball it, but it would be able to account for a few of the larger Pokémon. Once a Pokémon was placed inside, the chamber would check what the Pokémon was, and just blast it with potions and ethers of varying types. It would check for species because it was discovered not long before the project-by and independent research study-that a potion's effective influence was determined often by a Pokémon's size and type. What was most interesting was that poison-type Pokémon were the most effected by potions and as such required either a lower dosage or lower potency than normal. This machine was called the Medicap, or Medical Capsule. The idea was that it would substitute pokéballs as the capsule for Pokémon in the process of healing them.

"Okay, right. Disclaimer before we rev this thing up. In clinical studies, it's been reported that any Pokémon shorter than two feet tall are terrified by the damn thing, if only for the first time. So I would recommend going in with your Cherrubi, the Litwick can stay with me." The nurse approached the machine's side panel.

"Oh this isn't actually my Pokémon." Leo said, rubbing the Cherrubi's leaves. It seemed to like that, like a weird kind of petting or something.

"Does it matter? Just get in the Medicap." _What's up with her?_

Leo handed over Ember, and stepped in as he was told, sitting with his legs crossed in the chamber. The machine was cut on, and in a quick flash, a number of lasers passed over him and the small fruit in his arms. He could feel himself vibrating from it quaking in his arms.

"Hey, it's going to be alright." Leo whispered, pulling this small child closer to him. _How precious__!_

Soon, some mechanical arms had descended, positioning themselves towards the open back wound. They let rip a myriad of different medicines, and as Leo watched this amazing marvel of technology replace the cells of this Pokémon, he felt the Cherrubi relax into his hold. _There we are_.

* * *

"Thank you again, Calypso!" Leo called to the nurse as he left the Pokémon Centre with two healthy children.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't be in a hurry to come back, y'hear!?"

"Deal! I hope I can trust you to help if I need to though."

"Jus' get outta 'ere!"

After being seen off, Leonardo approached route 901, Cherrubi in his arms. He slowly plopped it down to the ground, only for the Cherrubi to look to him in confusion.

"Come on, you're healthy now. You don't need me, yea'?"

After a few moments of what he believed to be reflection, the Cherrubi turned tail and headed off.

"There we are. Well, Ember, let's say we get the fuck outta 'ere, yea'?" He turned to see that Ember had been waving to the Cherrubi. Leo smiled and took Ember up onto his shoulder again. "Let's go."

Though, after only a few hundred feet of walking, it became painfully obvious that it still wasn't only the two of them. Leo turned around to see that same cute-ass fucking berry poorly covering up the fact that it was following them.

"I can see you," He called, startling it, as it hid behind a tree. "Alright, come here you damn cutie." Leo demanded, opening his arms up. It hopped, skipped, and jumped into his arms.

"Right, right. Name," He thought, looking it in the eyes. "Charity?" The back head of the Cherrubi shook it's head no. "Hm, how 'bout Cheri?" Still no. _Yeah, I figured. It does look like a Cheri Berry._

"Chirithy?"

No.

"Chip"

No.

"Chad."

No.

"ChiChi."

What? No!

"Oh! How does Rubi sound!?" That was perfect.

"Alright, Rubi. Welcome to the team!"

* * *

**(A/N): Whoo! I just banged this one out real fast didn't I? I really have no sense of pace, nor a real way to tackle writers block, but I might start to pick it up a little. Until then, YAKOM!**


	3. So This is the League?

"F-wow, they're swarming the damn place now."

Leonardo marveled at just how many fucking people had filled Route 902 since the Iron Snake Massacre: police, press, territorial Pokémon, and of course The Valourous Eight. Now, the Valour Region has picked up a reputation from immigrants and tourists about it's handle on law enforcement. Interestingly enough, all officers have been given a standard issue team deemed fit for combat, and if an officer wishes to introduce a personal Pokémon to their team, they must defeat one of the Valourous Eight's Pokémon with their own. That's... cool, but who in the hell are the Valourous Eight!? Well, they happen to be a stand-in for the Elite Four, should they be busy with more important problems. Each member of the Elite Four is in charge of two of the Eight, but they really don't order them around as much as you'd expect; the Elite Four tend to take care of as much business as they can handle. Even now, one of the members has accompanied their retainers. That said, when ever they aren't called for, the Eight are tasked with one overarching mission: maintain your Arena. In addition to being retainers of sorts, the Eight also stand as obstacles on the way up to the Indigo Plateau: you won't be allowed up inside until you've defeated them. To prove this, by beating one of the Eight, they relinquish their Crest as a symbol to represent your victory.

"Excuse me, sir!" A voice called out to Leonardo, and he stopped-Rubi bumping into his legs-to look to who approached him; though, he had a hard time keeping his eyes on the man, he was damn ugly. Though he quickly diverted his eyes to the Metagross he rode, and the blanket that covered his legs.

"Ah, and for what reason would a member of the Elite Four be stopping me?" Leo asked skeptically, his shoulder flame jiggling a tad.

"Please, just call me Hephastion. You would be Mr. Diaz?" Hephastion gave an uncomfortably wide smile to him; frightening Rubi, she hid behind Leo's legs.

"Who's askin'?" Admittedly, Leo was confused as to why anyone from the League would know the name of a nothing trainer who's had his licence for only a week.

"Well the League of course! Amber asked us to keep an eye on you," He somberly invoked her name. "I, uh, owed her a lot, y'know? So, if I can't find a way to repay her, next best thing I guess."

"In what way are you helping me?"

"Nothing too big, just a moment." Hephastion grabbed his bag and rummaged through it a bit. While he did so, Leo couldn't help but notice something strange.

"Wait, I thought Achillius was one of Athenia's retainers," Leo noted one of the Valourous Eight guarding the scene from hostile Pokémon in the area. "And why does he have a Torterra?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. She went out of region for some time so, I decided to accompany him instead." He answered, seemingly distracted by the fact that he couldn't find what he was looking for in his bag.

"Yeah, and about the Torterra?" At this point, Rubi and Ember had grown bored, taking to playing tag or something of the sort.

"Right, right. Well, he's replacing Yamato as the Crest of Grass. It seems that his sister met an untimely end and has passed her duty as Kanto's Grass Gym Leader to him."

"Oh, well. My apologies." Leo's tone turned sour. It seems he's not the only one with these experiences.

"No need for such formalities, nor regret. Aha! Here it is!" Hephastion hopped up a tad upon pulling out a pokéball from his bag. "This is for you, the force took them out of their standardized team rotation so we were planning to release them soon. Thought you find some use out of this little guy." He tossed the ball to Leo, who caught it with both hands close to his chest. He damn near dropped the thing.

"Wait, before this," He shook the pokéball. "Who's going to be the Crest of Fairies? You guys do have a replacement right?"

"Of course they do." The new but familiar voice caught Leo's ear.

"Ah! Joy Calypso, you've arrived. I was wondering when you'd show." Hephastion cooed.

Leonardo turned to find that behind him was the nurse he'd met at the Pokémon Centre. _Oh yeah, she is a Joy ain't she? _See, a Joy is slang in this region for a Pokémon nurse. In reference to the very first Pokémon medical expert from many millennia ago by the name of Joy No-Last-Name-Given. It's a joke that all nurses are decedents of her and that they be called Joys. Most even go as far as to dye their hair pink if it isn't naturally. Calypso is no different, at least not in uniform. She currently wore a pink hoodie with a Cleffa that blended well with her pink hair and her dark caramel skin. The hoodie was so long, Leo almost hadn't noticed the black denim short shorts she wore. Her legs were clothed by pink fishnet stockings that went all the way down to her black combat boots, pink soles and all.

"Leonardo Diaz, funny meeting you here," Rubi excitedly jumped into her legs. Calypso bent over, hoisting Rubi up into her arms. Truth be told, Leo couldn't look away. "Hey, girl! How' you doin'!?" She was met with only a bright happy cry from Rubi.

"Is it? I saw you just last night." Leo jabbed sarcastically. _Don't stare at the legs dumbass, she'll catch you!_

"Shut up." She said, gently placing Rubi back on the ground; who promptly ran off to rejoin Ember in absolutely fucking up some Rattata.

_Ah, another mess to clean up._

"Oh? So the two of you are already acquainted? Perfect. Leo, Joy here will be the new Crest of Fairies!" Hephastion gestured to her with jazz hands, in a sort of show-and-tell, 'ta da!' manner.

"Is that so? So you've taken on the responsibility of Joy, and a Valourous Crest at the same time. I'm impressed." And he genuinely was. To think someone would charge themselves with the tasks of a government official, a medical professional, and a fearless fighter all simultaneously. Unthinkable.

"Well, I try. What've you got for me, Hephastion?" Calypso put her hands on her hips proudly and smugly.

"Well, I actually think Achillius and I have this covered," Calypso visually deflated. "However, this gives you the perfect opportunity to go and see about starting up your arena!" Ah, that seemed to put the wind back in her sails.

"Oh yeah! Let's do that."

Leo's focus drifted from Calypso and Hephastion to the new pokéball in his hand. He actually had no clue what was in the damn thing, so he took a moment to find out. He popped the pokéball open, only to be startled by the immediate crunch of the ground in front of him. It was so fast, a silver blur appearing before him and crashing to the ground. Looking down, he came face to face with and Aron, who was in distress at the fact that the impact had lodged it's left two legs in the dirt. Leonardo quickly made to help pull it out, but damn this thing was heavy as fuck! It took most all of his strength to pull it out. This had gained the attention of Hephastion.

"Splendid! It seems you met your new partner!"

"Why the fuck is he so heavy!?" Leo demanded the answer. The Aron though, it was just happy to be there.

"Are you stupid? These damn things are like, sixty kilogrammes." Calypso chastised him.

"I'm sixty kilogrammes! I could pick up myself no problem!"

"Well now, that would be because this particular specimen has Heavy Metal Syndrome," Hephastion pointed to the sky in that matter-of-fact smugness that fucking nobody but he could make. Mostly in part that no one could make their face look that ugly. "It's cells are more densely pact as a natural mutation aimed to better protect the body. This condition usually doubles the Pokémon's weight on average."

"One-hundred and twenty fucking kilogrammes! That's ludicrous, It's not even half a metre tall!" Leo exclaimed in utter disbelief.

"Well, uh, it is a steel-type, genius." Calypso mocked.

"Let us digress," Hephastion interrupted. "Calypso, you should head out to set up your arena. Leonardo, you said you wanted to beat the League, correct?"

"No, I never said that," There was a moment of silence, very awkward silence. "I do, I just never said it out loud. So-" He trailed off, his new Aron looking back and forth between the three.

"Right. Well regardless, perhaps you should join Calypso, and when you reach Fae City you can be her first challenger!" Hephastion encouraged.

"Oh, and then I can kick his/her ass!" The two exclaimed simultaneously before looking to each other with a strong smug passing over their features.

"So you think you can beat a Valourous Crest, huh?" Calypso taunted.

"Yeah, actually I do!" Leo glared at her.

After what seemed like hours, Leo became seemingly distracted by her eyes, and lips. Actually, every feature on her face was quite entrancing. Though that was always overshadowed by her challenging gaze. Like an unspoken conversation that they both fully understood. Then, they both turned together, and were off to Fae city.

"Ah, Mr. Diaz, just a moment more," Hephastion called to him. "If you know of anything suspicious from that day, you should probably go to Professor Eucalyptus. She is studying the case extensively and could really use some help."

"Uh, yeah. Of course. Will do." Leo shuffled back to join Joy once more, his small but growing team just on his tail.

As they moved past 902's crime scene, Leonardo looks down to his new buddy walking beside him.

"You're gonna need a name aren't you?" He leans over, and its head happily bobbed side to side.

"Y'know, Pokémon really seem to like you. Even the naturally friendly ones tend to be indifferent towards strangers." Joy remarked.

"Y'think so? Hey, now that it's crossed my mind," Leo stands up straight again and looks to Joy. "I haven't met any of your Pokémon, Calypso."

"Actually, that's right. You haven't, have you." She said, pulling a pokéball out of her hoodie's pocket.

Calypso drops the ball to the ground and in a flash of light, there manifests a Cleffa. It hopped forward, if only a bit, and offered a hand to Leo.

"Damn, that's cute as fuck." He whispered, shaking its hand with naught but his index finger. It was tiny, the damn thing.

"This is Stella," She remarked, as Ember approached and also offered a hand to Cleffa. "My small bean, my cinnamon roll. I've only had her for like a fuckin' week, but I would die for her." _Aw, now they're dancing together!_

"Yeah, I think I can understand. I've had Ember for just as long, and Rubi? Fuck, I met her only yesterday," Leo chuckled to himself because it was true. He would kill himself if it saved these babies from harm. He looked to Calypso once more, only to be met with a face of awe. "What's wrong, you alright Joy?"

Calypso stepped forward and embraced him, which admittedly he was not ready for. _What is going on?_

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked. "You're crying, haven't you noticed?"

No, he hadn't. It was... weird. When was the last time he had even found the motivation to cry? Just, wow. And this hug? Her warmth filling his heart was almost comfortably invasive. He was not ready for it, nor had he been ready to be asked a question as ridiculous as that. Not even his mom had, though he couldn't bring himself to blame her. She game him the space he asked for, she never did get the chance. Agh, it was just crashing down so hard! It all came together and pooled at his eyes. He finally let go at that point. He started sobbing uncontrollably and collapsed to his knees, Calypso following him down. Fuck! He lost his best friend, he was so stressed out by this sudden responsibility he felt. What was he doing?

"It's going to be alright," Calypso whispered to him. "You must've seen so much of that pain, felt it too," Joy stroked his hair with her left hand. "Just let out as much as you need, or as much as you're willing to."

Leo looked down at this strange sensation by his cheek. It was Ember, rubbing his cheek with her little waxy stubs. On his left, Rubi had been pushing herself into his legs; he could only assume she was trying to comfort him. Stella and the Aron too. Everyone here, was here for him. And at this point, he no longer cared that Calypso was a complete stranger, and that he was crying in broad daylight on a busy trail. Joy said he could let it out, so he would. He was going to cry so fucking hard, and hug so fucking much. He just wanted to be happy; maybe this was his chance to be.


	4. Calypso's Island

Leonardo and Calypso had left for at Fae City sometime after Leo recollected himself. The entire rest of the trek was silent, but Leo wouldn't've called it awkward or uncomfortable; if anything, the reflective silence he had, paired with his interpretation of it-that being the assumption that Joy stayed quiet because she didn't feel like she was required to say something-helped him feel better about the whole situation. Then, just as the sun crawled down past the horizon, they arrived. It was quite the nice place. It was just two large roads stretching down the entirety of the city and separated by a park; housing and facilities lining the whole of either street. The park really did tie everything together; it was wide-about 8 metres-and had trees strewn thinly about. There was a large centre fountain depicting a Primarina on the top, and towards the other end of the city there was a large, raised, circular, stone pedestal about 5 metres in diameter and about a half metre off the ground. As the sun had said its final goodbyes 'till 'morrow, the street lights came on to light the town.

"Ugh, the Professor's lab is closed," Leo sighed. "I'll have to wait until the morning to go in."

"Yeah, uh, Leo?" Calypso sounded concerned in some way.

"What's wrong?"

"You're a new trainer."

"Yep."

"And you've yet to battle any other trainers."

"Also yes."

"So, you've made no money."

"Oh shit."

"Do you even have a place to stay?"

"Yeah, no, that's, uh, that's bad." Leo whispered to himself. She was right, he couldn't afford a night at the inn. "Fuck me, dude. What now?" Leo scowled in thought for a few moments before shrugging and pulling his bag up. "Well, I gotta tent, so at lea-"

"F-what? No!" Calypso giggled. "I assumed this would happen anyway, just thought the panic on your face would be amusing. Here, come with me."

* * *

"Wow, this place is really nice." Leo remarked in amazement.

He stood in a fairly wide living room adorned with the epitome of modern decor: very angular and high contrast furniture and minimalist decorations. Everything was either black or white. Leo quite enjoyed what the room was going for, though perhaps a tertiary colour was an order.

"You like it? I really do," Calypso entered, locking the front door behind her."I was thinking about adding a bit of pink, the contrast in here would be more interesting if it favoured a particular direction don't you think?"

"The League gave you this!? They gave you a whole-ass house!?" Leo shouted, absolutely mesmerized by the idea.

"Well, it's a hand-me-down," Joy shrugged. "I will say, I wasn't ready for just how coherent Achillius' sense of style was."

Leo was baffled; League members straight up getting their own houses!? Though, he supposed that made their jobs easier. Unlike a majority of the League's arenas, Calypso's arena was outdoors- that being the large stone pedestal outside-and as such, her house was fully private. The other League arenas were indoors, often connected to the Valourous Crest's housing; either being separated by floors, or maybe being its own section in the back of the building. _I can't believe Amber turned this down! _Leo supposed that this would be a great reason to join the League when he was done.

"You've got a change of clothes right? Why don't you take a shower while you're here?" Calypso offered, sitting on the gray couch.

"Do I really smell that bad?" Leo made to whiff at himself.

"You know that's not what I meant dumbass," She stifled a laugh. "Just leave your clothes by the door and I'll toss 'em in the wash."

"Hear that? I'll be back okay guys?" Leo called to his team. "Before that though-"

Ember-who'd been wrapped on his shoulder-slid out from under his shirt and onto the floor. Rubi hopped into Joy's lap-to her surprise and delight-and sat down facing Leo. Leo's Aron-of which he had taken to calling Galvan-trotted up next to Ember, his footsteps making a soft thud on the carpeting. Leo excitedly pulled out a pokéball and two small cubes of pinkish-orange wax. The Pokédex taught him about the diets of his Pokémon, so he took to feeding them four times a day: once after waking up; once at noon; once in the afternoon, anywhere between four and six; and once before going to sleep. First was Galvan, who he learned was not a picky eater in the slightest, so long as it was a metal of some sort. Leo decided on pokéballs. He didn't really need them, he'd fully embraced the capless lifestyle at this point, and pokéballs were really cheap; Leo could buy a days worth of food for Galvan for like, 1.200 Pokédollars. He rolled the ball over to Galvan, who looked at it curiously; Galvan's head twitching from side to side, as if he had to take it in with both eyes in order to recognize it as food. Having satisfied himself with looking, he leaned forward just the smallest bit before snapping his head forward and scooping it up in a fraction of a second. Had Leo blinked at the wrong time, it would've looked like magic. Next was Rubi, or it would've been. See, aside from dumping a fresh water on her every morning and afternoon, she did all the work herself: chlorophyll an' all. Lastly was Ember, and this one was pretty obvious. The two wax cubes were scented with Kelpsy Berries, because Leo made the mistake of getting Hondew Berry scented wax. Ember not only didn't like it, but had a wild fit over the damn thing. Leo didn't want his sweet girl to be mad at her, so after experimenting a bit Leo found that she enjoyed Kelpsy the best. He leaned over and held his hand out with one of the cubes. Ember slid and/or crawled to him (he really didn't know what to call it), and wrapped herself around his hand; her wax rotated around his hand like some kind of vortex. Leo chuckled a small bit. _It tickles every time. Calypso should try this! _He was absolutely right, that was a fantastic idea. So Leo looked to Joy:

"Hey, Calypso," She jerked her head up from petting Stella and Rubi. "Here, catch!" He said excitedly, tossing the small wax cube over to her. It bounced off her chest and into her lap.

"Wait, what?" She picked it up, Ember slowly sliding over and eyeing the cube closely. "Oh, no. I can't feed your Pokémon! You haven't had her for long; I don't want to confuse her." She declined frantically.

"No, no. It's okay. I'm sure it wouldn't be so bad if she came to trust both of us." Leo said, his voice relaxing and becoming just that bit deeper and scratchier. Joy's eyes and upper body relaxed, while her legs and hands tensed up and scrunched together. _What?_

Leo supposed it made sense: Calypso's anxiety. Petting another person's Pokémon was one thing, but feeding them was something else entirely. But Joy had helped him in his time of need, or something to that effect, so he trusted her; he wanted his Pokémon to trust her too. Ember slowly crawled up Calypso's leg and waited patiently on her lap. _I raised a good girl._ Leo thought, quite proud of himself.

"Oh, hi!" Joy spoke nervously, holding the wax to her chest. "Wow, you're cute."

"C'm on now Calypso; she's hungry." Leo urged. _Do the the thing._

And she did. Joy brought her hand out towards Ember, and after a bit of initial confusion of the _who's fuckin' hand is this, _Ember started to eat the wax out of Calypso's hand. Leo watched Calypso's face run though a number of emotions before settling on what he could only assume was pleasure. Leonardo could not lie to himself, Calypso was very, very, _very attractive._ He would even come out and say she's hot, or sexy. This, all of this entire situation, was not helping. He reeled himself in. He had to keep himself in check. He was saving himself for someone else, even if she wasn't around anymore. He just smiled and laughed, as Joy did. She seemed to be having fun, and that was good.

"No! Stop! That tickles!" She managed to get out as she giggled uncontrollably.

Finally, Ember slipped down and off Joy's hand and down her leg and back too the floor; she jiggled a little bit before her flame suddenly tripled in size, filling the room with a strong vanilla scent. Calypso's breathing took a bit to normalize, but it got there. Leo couldn't help but smile to her even still.

"Hey, Leo," Calypso spoke softly, shyly. "Thank you. That was really nice. I-I liked it."

"Of course! If you asked, I wouldn't mind you doing it again," He stood from his place on the floor, stretching his full body. "D'you mind if I take that shower now?" He asked. Joy almost seemed floored by the question.

"No!" She said, almost too enthusiastically. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I mean, no. No, go right ahead," As Leo shuffled away, she called after him. "There's a basket by the door, just leave your clothes there."

"Right, thank you."

Leo turned and walked down the hallway next to the kitchen. He made to the rearmost room where he had been told where the bathroom was only to be confused by the bed, and nightstand, and general non-bathroom amenities in the room.

"Uh, Calypso!?" He half-shouted down the hall, leaning in her direction while keeping his eyes on the room. Like if he turned away, the room would magically change. "This is a bedroom!"

"Yeah, the master bedroom!" She remarked, just as loud. "You know how houses work right!?" She mocked.

"Yeah, yeah." _Isn't this a two bath house?_

Leo turned the corner into the master bathroom. _Damn damn, dude. Achillius really doesn't like colours! _Leo stripped down and neatly placed his clothes in the shallow basket on the shelf next to the door. His passing curiosity quickly auto-piloted his hand to the handle of the drawer in front of him. Opening it, he found bras, and he only assumed that the next drawer down had panties. _I really don't know what I expected._ He closed it as quickly as he opened it, not thinking much of it. He stepped into the translucent glass-box shower and went to turn on the water. _What in the fuck are these alien-ass controls!? _After a few moments of experimentation he managed to get the water on and to a temperature he was satisfied with. Then he heard a knock on the door.

"D'you figure it out, Leo?"

"Yeah, yep, I got it." He called to the other side of the door.

"Hey," She said, opening the door. "You left the door unlocked," He heard a click of the door's lock. "Just came to grab your clothes." He was glad the shower was translucent.

Sometime later, after just standing there and reflecting on... whatever, he couldn't remember at this point, he finally decided to was himself properly and get out. Apparently the League didn't believe in tanks, so it was basically unlimited hot water. Stepping out of the shower he took a towel out of the cupboard under the sink and dried himself of as best he could. _Oh shit, wait._ He couldn't find his clothes, he didn't bring a fresh set in with him. He'd ask Joy to bring him his clothes, but he just really didn't like people touching his stuff. He'd rather run out towel-only, which is why he was about to do just that. He opened the door a crack and announced to Calypso:

"Hey, like it or not, I'm comin' out half-naked so unless you want your eyes to be blasted by my disgusting figure, turn around. You've got ten seconds."

"Oh! Okay, I guess." She said, really surprise being the only emotion in her tone.

Counting to ten, he left the bathroom. He caught an eyeful of her back as she had been having a communion or some shit with all their Pokémon, so she'd heeded his words wisely. He grabbed his bag and returned to the bathroom quickly before changing.

"Alright, your turn." Leo said, walking out.

"You sound pretty informal for being in a stranger's home." She looked smugly at him.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry I didn't mean to imp-"

"Whoa, whoa there, Mr. Charon. Try not to leap out your skin now. I was just playing," She hopped up off the bed. "Their all yours," She said, before turning and whispering to the whole lot. "He's all yours guys." She skipped into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She sounds like she's in a good mood.

Leo turned back to the bed where all the Pokémon waited, seemingly for him to join them on the bed. Not in, like, the poképhilia kind of way, but, like, y'know. A normal way? He counted his team, Stella, a Ralts, and a Flabébé. He'd never met the last two. He approached them as he took to sitting on the bed.

"Hi there," He said softly, and hesitantly. "You're so cute, what the hell?"

The Ralts eyed him curiously, hand on her chin, and the Flabébé whizzed about him a moment before tapping him on the nose with a beautiful Iris it held close. Having been caught up in petting all these adorable Pokémon, he hardly noticed that Galvan was among them until after he had been petting him for some time. _Wait, f-what the hell!? Galvan is 120 fucking kilogrammes! I refuse to believe that this bed is held up by anything less than magic. _Before he could do anything to try and figure it out, he heard Calypso call from the door.

"Hey, like it or not, I'm comin' out half-naked so unless you want your eyes to be blasted by my amazing figure, turn around. You've got ten seconds." _Oh you som' bitch._

Leo quickly decided that it was in his best interest to turn himself around, facing the wall opposite the bathroom door. He focused hard on his legs, crossed in front of him. After a few moments of suspense, the door opened. Well, that was certainly uneventful. Leo's breathing relaxed, and as he sighed he looked straight to the wall in front of him. But then he was met with man-made horrors beyond his wildest imagination. _No, this can't be! There's no way I could've missed this. It's-It's-! _It was a mirror. The entire wall was a giant mirror! Against his sound mind and steeled resolve, his eyes gravitated towards Joy. Leonardo could not lie to himself; Calypso was really, really, really, _really attractive. _He might go as far to say hot, or sexy, even. His eyes did not leave her body. She was already in some undergarments. They were pink an' real fancy lookin', like the frame of a vanity mirror. Her legs were long, and her hips? Hypnotic. Her panties grabbed her ass in a way Leo really only _wished _he could. Her breasts were on the larger side, though Leo didn't have the sense of scale to identify her cup size. Not that it mattered, they still filled that bra _really _well. Her skin looked so supple, and had the beautiful colour of a cup of hot blonde coffee. Her pink, matted hair pulled to one side, and it was rare to see golden eyes as of late, as opposed to a brown, or red like Leo's. But the way her golden eyes stared back, piercing his he-. _Wait, staring back!?_

"I see you've changed your mind," Fuck, she noticed! "Not that I blame you. I mean, I like to think I look pretty hot, but it's nice to have the validation. You even managed to do it without words!" _God I am so hard right now. _"Alright," she approached him from behind, and he saw the Pokémon look up to her. "Bedtime!"

And like small children, they deflated, the lot of 'em. That is before slinking over to the end of the mirror where there appeared to be a large in-ground mattress, pillows, blankets and all. Leo was immediately distracted; however, as Calypso hopped in bed beside him with a quick 'good night'. _Oh, is this how it's happening? O-okay. _Leo would've been fine, and it wouldn't've mattered; that is if what had just happened, y'know, didn't. Even still, Leo decided to lay beside her as well, albeit with his back turned to her. However, after a few moments of silence and deliberation, he decided to speak.

"Hey, Calypso, I'm really sorry for this whole mess. I really shouldn't be getting so comfortable, it's rude to you." After not receiving an answer, he'd assumed she was asleep.

"Leonardo," Maybe not. Not that hearing his full name out of her mouth really helped with just how horny he was. "I wouldn't share a bed with someone I didn't like, or even someone I was neutral about," Leo, in that moment, could only really think about just how helpful, kind, and accommodating she had been towards him. More so, she was really fuckin' good at easing his anxiety, even if sometimes it really only seemed like contributing to it was her favourite thing to do. "I really like you, Leonardo."

"Thank you, Calypso." For a time, even if only for a moment, he was able to forget Amber. He was able to finally rest easy. Maybe it was too soon to say, but perhaps Calypso was the best thing to happen to him.

"And, if it makes you feel any better, I was also staring at you, a lot."


	5. Professor Eucalyptus

Leonardo's skin had become quite warm. That was normal, at least it's supposed to be. Usually it'd be Ember's doing, her formless wax clinging to his bare skin and acting as a heater of sorts. However, Leo didn't think it was her for a number of reasons: Ember was sleeping with the rest of the lot, she doesn't even have the spread that this feeling does anyways, but namely the fact that he did go to sleep with another human being. Anticipating the worst, Leo opened his eyes, and sighed in relief. It _was_ Ember, he supposed she'd just climbed into bed with him after the fact. Though, upon closer inspection, he noticed that she was wrapped around two people in fact. Yes, it was exactly what he thought: Calypso was clinging to him and Ember was between them linking both of their arms together. Calypso had taken to using him as a pillow, her head resting on his chest just by his shoulder. She was almost fully turned over, with her left leg tossed over both of his. _Ah, this is really nice, actually. _He turned to his right, looking to the alarm clock on the nightstand. _Only seven? Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a few more hours, yeah? _He was really tired anyway. The last two weeks hadn't lent him much in the way of rest on account of too much... _thinking. _But Calypso, he didn't have to think around her. While he couldn't quite pin it down, she just found a way. Maybe he's just talking out'f his ass, or maybe he's trying to jump into things too quickly; though, would that be so bad? He closed his eyes and let his mind wander around some thoughts, thoughts about Joy. It felt like with every passing second he only internalized her more and more. Soon enough, he might not be able to have any other thoughts.

* * *

Leo woke to a familiar sensation, but still in some way entirely new. Though he dreaded what that meant. Calypso was gone, and could've only imagined where she ran off to as he looked down to the blanked covering him. _Yep, that's a person down there, okay. _He made to lift the blanket of him, and who did he find but Calypso, giving him a blowjob. _Well, yep, that, uh, that ought t'do it._ He almost couldn't look away, but he threw his head back. _Fuck that feels good. _She had been doing most of the work with her tongue, as it slithered up and down his shaft. Then, every other moment she'd bob her head up and down his full length. He had never in his life felt so good; masturbating wouldn't ever be the same. He couldn't help but twitch as she occasionally ran over just the spot to overstimulate him, and slowly he felt the pressure build up inside him. He couldn't help but grab her by the hair, even if it was only a fraction of a second. She looked into his eyes at this, and Leo watched as his dick slowly slid from the back of her throat and out of her mouth entirely. Then she she gave him a warm and inviting smile, with something more alluring just underneath.

"Good morning Leo!" She teased, still stroking his cock in her hand. "I must say, I didn't expect you to be such a heavy sleeper. Of all the things I did to you and it took fifteen entire minutes after I moved on to this." _Fuck, that's hot. Hol' up. _He wracked his brain for something to say; he needed a way to keep up the mood quick.

"I bet you had fun, milking me like that?" _There, that should work, I hope. I have no idea what I'm doing._

"I haven't gotten anything out this big guy just yet." She giggled. _Alright, time to test the waters._

"I'm very disappointed in you, Calypso. I think you could try harder." He said, grabbing her by the roots of her hair. _High risk._

"I'm sorry _master,_" She looked at him with pouting eyes. "You can use me however you want, sir." _Yup, that's a high reward if I've ever seen one._

"Be a good girl, yeah?" He said, taking hold of her and pushing her head down as she took him in fully once more.

_Fuckin' hell, this is incredible! _Her mouth was so soft, and the way her tongue worked the underside of him. He pulled the hair from her eyes and as she made hard eye contact with him, and he couldn't hold himself back. He took her head into both of his hands and forced a quicker pace out'f her. Pushing deeper and deeper until he could feel the back of her throat with each stroke, and with each stroke he felt the pleasure pulse through him and up his entire body. Slowly but surely he was reaching his limit and his pace faltered, but Calypso was unforgiving; noticing this, she took it upon herself to finish the job. She pulled back a little, shifting her tongue to his tip; her tongue rounded him at light speed. Leo really, really wanted to just let go inside her mouth, but was it okay? Whatever, she wouldn't have made the effort to make him go right now otherwise. _Oh shit, I'm fi'in' to bus'. _He forced Calypso's head down one last time as he came hard into her mouth. He felt his dick twitch one, two, five times; each time, his cum leaving as Joy attempted to swallow. _Cream for my coffee. What a good girl. _She could just barely keep up with what he was giving her, just a small bit coming out out of her nose.

"Goddamn Calypso. You're, whoof, you're amazing." Leo huffed, leaning back into a relaxed position; though, not soon after he felt the bed shift down by his chest.

"You'll pay me back for that won't you?" She said, positioning herself just over Leo's face and tugging her panties to the side, exposing the dark lips of her pussy. "Service fee, yeah?"

"Well, get down here." He smiled, parting her with his thumbs revealing the pinker interior.

Calypso smelled thick of her lust, and Leo loved it more than anything right now. He stuck his tongue out and tasted her for just a moment, and much to his pleasure he was met with a soft moan from her mouth. She tasted like something he couldn't imagine would exist. Something along the lines of lemonade, if someone made it with salt instead of sugar; yeah, that's it. He felt the texture in it's entirety, or rather it's lack thereof; it was smooth almost the whole way through, save for one small bump. _Is that... what I think it is? Never in my life did I think I'd find you! Well, here we go. _He flicked his tongue across her clit, and she flinched, _hard. _Her clit escaped from him as she inhaled sharply; a tad frustrated by the prospect of not hearing Joy moan more, Leo made for the clit again. He sucked it in and rolled his tongue on it non-stop, and grabbed Calypso by the legs to keep her from escaping. Not that she didn't try, she shook and moaned at his touch, both harsh and tender at the same time.

"Ah! Leo! You keep that up and I won't be able to hold myself up." She could barely put together between her adorable breaks to moan.

Leo was proud of of himself. He liked to think he was doing well for his first time! He might actually be doing as well as he thinks, too! Calypso just couldn't keep herself quiet. Though, considering the fact that she sitting on his face, he was having a bit of difficulty in terms of breathing. He'd find his breath when she twitched away, just before she came back for more. Though as time moved on, that got harder and harder.

"Leo! I'm-I'm almost there! Please, more!" Calypso begged, rocking her hips forward and back across his face.

_Just a bit longer, a bit harder. _Leo managed to find one final breath and went all in, moving every single muscle in his face was oscillating on her body. _Almost there. _She was about to go. Not that he'd make it. He was about to pass out.

"Leo! Ah! I'm about to-!"

Calypso scrunched forward, squeezing Leo's head between her thighs so goddamn hard, he thought his head would crack open like a Spearow egg. _Okay, I can't keep this up anymore. I need to breath! _So just before his vision blurred out, he put the last of his strength into tossing his body upright. _Here I go!_

* * *

Leonardo awoke with a start. His body jerked upright. How familiar. Though, as he left the bed, he felt a waxy weight leave his face. Catching his breath, he watched Ember fly off and onto the floor in front of the bed.

"Ember! Fuckin'-don't do that! I almost died!" He said, as she half hung on the foot of the bed. Almost like a Lilipup pouting at their owner. "Don't look at me like that," But she did, and her gaze was unwavering. She didn't even blink, not that she needed to or anything. "Ugh, whatever." He looked to his right. Nine-thirty, just about.

He stood from the bed, and upon looking back at it he found that Calypso wasn't there. Where did she-? He walked to the door to leave the bedroom, Ember hopping onto his leg as he walked and climbing up until she settled on his shoulder once more.

Walking out to the main area-living room, kitchen, and all-he was hit with a potent sweetness right in his nose. Something along the lines of syrup. Looking over past the kitchen's bar/island, he spotted Calypso in a shirt that was much too big for her. _Hey, that's my shirt!_ It was, a white button-up with black dots. _Wait, there's no way she has that buttoned up. I don't think there's enough room in there._ Just then, she turned to him. Despite the fact that Leo could now that it was very much unbuttoned, her front side was covered by an apron.

"Mornin'! I see Ember got you up like I asked." She greeted.

"Y-yeah. Hey, is that my shirt?" He attempted to ask nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I put all my stuff in the wash without thinking; I'm sure you don't mind." She said as he rounded the corner of the island and was blasted by the sight of her toffee skin. _Legs, yup. Those are legs. Sprouting from her torso, holding her up, yes, legs._

"Perhaps next time, maybe permission first, y'know?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm making pancakes. I imagine you're hungry?" Oh yeah, they smelled good too. Though, before he eats himself, Leo thought it most efficient to feed his Pokémon first.

"Yeah, I would actually really like some. Thank you," Leo said, retrieving some cubes and a pokéball out from his bag on the couch in the living room. "Hey, uh, where are my, uh," His brain shorted out for a moment. "My damn there, fuckin' uh, fresh waters?" Ah, there it is.

"I took the liberty of tossing 'em in the fridge." Calypso answered, not looking away from the stovetop.

Leo dropped the wax over his shoulder onto Ember, who engulfed them immediately. He bent down and rolled the pokéball over to Galvan, and he chomped down at a rather frightening speed, actually. Then Leo walled over to the fridge on Joy's right and opened it to retrieve one of his fresh waters. Opening the mason jar, he placed it on the floor.

"Rubi! Come 'ere, girl. Breakfast, I guess." _Does water count as a meal for her?_

Rubi's head popped up from over the back of the couch and swiveled to him, from where she was playing with Joy's Flabébé. Hopping over and down the back of the couch, Rubi reached the jar and splashed her second bulb into it. The jar very quickly became noticeably empty.

"There you are," Leo said, picking the jar up from the floor and placing it back in the fridge so he wouldn't forget it, but when he closed it, he saw the crude reflection of his face. He froze immediately. "Hey, I'll, uh, I'll be right back."

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere," Calypso continued on what was probably the fourth pancake. But before Leo could pick up his bag and dash down the hall, she called out to him. "Hey, Leo. Are you okay?" And when Leo looked back to her, their eyes met. She wasn't looking at the pancakes this time.

"Yeah. F-what're you on about?" He said, shuffling in place. He shook his shoulder, and taking the hint, Ember left him to join the others in the living room.

"You just don't seem… there." Her voice softened into concern, and Leo, while a tad annoyed at being stopped, appreciated the sentiment.

"I'm alright, I assure you."

"Yeah? 'Cause you were talkin' in your sleep last night," Leo froze at her words. _Fuck._

"Oh? Are you sure you weren't hearing things?"

"Wow, gaslighting much?" _Fuck fuck._

"No, no! I didn't- that's not what I- I meant-" Then he saw the smile on her face. "Ugh, y'know what. Nevermind." Leo gave up, turning around.

Looking himself up and down in the mirror, he felt disgusting. Reaching into his bag, he did some digging until he finally found it. He pulled out a long, single razor blade. _Am I really about to do this? In someone else's house? She's going to know immediately. I ought to clean up the sink good._ He looked to his shaking hands; it had to be done, he hadn't had the chance in so long. He took the blade to his head and took a large chunk out of his hair, and then another, and another._ I can't believe I let this get so long!_ Though, it was mostly on account of the depression; after Amber, who really knew what he'd do with his razor. But was becoming a problem too, it was best he took care of it now. After some time-what with cutting, washing, and drying his hair- he returned to the others, who had moved to the dining room situated in a sunroom just next to the kitchen and living room.

"What were you busy with, hm?" She asked, only cutting herself off when she looked up to observe him. "Oh, you clean up quite nice don't you?"

He did his best. The back and left sides of his head were almost fully shaved down, and he had taken to taking an inch of the top and trimming his right side in order to keep the shape of his hair in tact. The table in front of Joy was set, two plates of pancakes situated on opposite sides of it.

"Well, I try," He took his place by the free plate. "I know I haven't been, so-" He trailed off, drowning his pancakes in IHOP brand butter pecan syrup. _You can buy this shit, that fuckin' crazy bruh, what!?_

"You cut your own hair? That's impressive, but you didn't have anyone else to? My dad always cut mine." She inquired, or rather probed his brain. She really wanted to get in there didn't she?

"Well, I haven't seen my dad in some years," He answered simply, taking a bite into his pancakes. "Goddamn! Cally, these are good!"

"Cally?" Calypso tried to sound indignant, but couldn't. Some combination of her scrunching up in her chair, smiling, and giggling just kind of gave it away. That's adorable, and a weakness. One Leo would be happy to exploit.

"You can't be calling me Leo and not expect a nickname. Have you never had one?" He tried getting away from her invasiveness, not that he particularly hated it, nor would he not share if she asked. He didn't really have anything to hide.

"No, no. Back up, you're changing the subject," But she caught it. "What about your dad?"

"Well, uh, as you very well know. My last name is Charon." He sat in silence, waiting for her to connect the dots.

"Charon? What?" Perhaps not. "Oh wait! No way!" There she goes. "You don't mean Victor Charon, that Charon!?" Leo supposed his awkward silence was very telling. "Leo, your father is the Unova champion? That's insane! The Master of Truth!?" They always did call him that after his involvement in the destruction of Team Plasma.

"Yeah, it's been about three years since I've seen him, the whole champion thing keeps him busy-fuck these pancakes, dude. They have no business being this good, for real. How're you so good at cooking?"

"Well, I'm only as good as the recipe says I am," She said, waving up her Pokédex up.

"Oh!" Leo perked up. "We should link 'dexes!" He said, pulling out Amber's 'dex from his back pocket

"Leo!" She put her hand on her chest. "To so lightly request a noble lady's 'dex code? You are such a troublesome child." She giggled to herself.

"Pff-child? You're, like, nineteen. That's only a year between us." Leo laughed.

"Ah, ah, ah! Twenty-and-a-half!"

"Yeah, that half is real important."

They slapped the backs of their Pokédexes together, and with a quick ding they now had the ability to contact each other at any time. However-

"Amber Anchor? As in the late champion?" Joy's tone became rather blue, rather quick.

"Oh, yeah. This one, uh, isn't actually mine."

You can't really hide that kind of thing. See, Pokédexes come in two variants: the older, more traditional elite trainer system; and the more modern take, the ID system. Some regions like the Sinnoh, Kanto, and Hoenn regions used Pokédexes as a luxurious reward to the people who've conquered their respective leagues (that is of course up to their respective gym leaders, who has the balls to challenge the Elite Four?). However, as of late, some regions like Unova, Ferrum, and of course Valour, have realised that perhaps Pokédexes were a necessity in modern society. So, Pokédexes have been mass produced, not only as encyclopedias, but also as forms of identification and communication, with international 'dexes being the hallmark of dual citizenship. Really, Leo's current license is a substitute for until he goes to the professor to get his 'dex. He should really be getting ready for that. Leonardo stood with his plate and put it in the sink.

"I'm gonna go change so I can head out to the Professor's, yeah?" He called, just barely turning his head over his shoulder to see her empty face staring down her pancakes. "Cally?" No response. "Hey, Calypso!" He snapped his fingers to her.

"Yeah?" Her eyes snapped back to him. "Yeah, I'll, uh, be right behind you."

* * *

Leonardo entered Professor Eucalyptus' laboratory among what seemed to be abject chaos. Aides were scrambling around, alarms were blaring, sprinklers were going off, and smoke was emanating from the centre of the room. That doesn't look good.

"That doesn't look good." Calypso chimed in from behind Leo.

"F-yeah? What tipped you off?" Leo turned his head back to the chaos and ran into it. "C'mon, we gotta help out!" As he got closer to the source, Ember slid down the length of his arm until her wick was in the palm of Leo's hand.

They finally found the cause of the fire, it was a person! They were rolling on the ground non-stop, but it seemed the fire was to big to be extinguished with such a method. Though, what really bothered Leo, was this person's silence. No screaming, or anything really.

"Alright, Ember!" He said, using the palm of his hand to point her wick to the fire. "Flash Fire!"

Suddenly the fire was being pulled from off the researcher's coat and appeared to make Ember's flame grow and change from it's bright cyan to the classic burning orange. The victim seemed to have noticed this and had taken to lying on their back, waiting for the fire to subside. Then it was gone. Ember returned to Leo's shoulder. The smoke was flushed out through the exhaust fans in the ceiling, and Leo could hear the smoke dampers above the ceiling open up to let air back into the room. Though the whole interaction was over, the researcher stayed right on the floor. There was a large gas mask of sorts on their face, so Leo couldn't quite tell who it was, nor if they were even still alive.

"I am so tired." The voice rasped from behind the mask.

"Leo! Is it gone?" Calypso ran in from behind him.

"Yeah, yup, he's got it." The masked researcher stood from where they laid.

They looked down to their scorched coat and sighed. With one swift, clean motion, they tore it off their body to reveal what appeared to be the peak beauty of the female body accented by a sleeveless blue sweater. The mask opened at several seams and expanded out, creating room for her to slip her head out of it. Her bright orange hair flowing out as she tossed it around.

"Bloody Ferrum imports. Faulty, the lot of them," Her voice was thick with a Galarian accent. "I take it you're Leonardo Charon," She looked to him, then past him to Calypso. "Ah, the Crest of Fairies, how do you do?"

"Professor Sonia Magnolia, f-what're you doing here?" Calypso was puzzled.

"Well, my grandmother got herself two new assistants, so with some new found time on my hands, I decided to come work with Nia for sometime. Help her bring Gaia to the Valour region."

"Gaia?" Leo couldn't help but put in a query on the term, he'd never heard of that before.

"So you're curious, Mr. Charon?" A bright voice chimed in, and drew Leo's attention up the stairs against the far wall.

Descending from the stairs was a rather beautiful woman: flowing brown hair, red framed glasses, and a soft face that somehow made a sharp expression. Determination was it? That's what he saw at least.

"Professor Nia Eucalyptus," Calypso said, her tone was almost indescribable. Almost as if the next thing she was looking to say was along the lines of a knowing son of a bitch. "You're mother is finally retired, yeah? You never told me you made it into town!" Her arms flew open.

"Ah! Calypso, it's so good to see you!" Nia trotted over to meet her in a hug.

"Hey, wait. I had a question." Leo impatiently pressed. Nia and Joy looked at each other knowingly before Nia turned to him.

"Whoof, alright. Gaia is the blood of the Earth, mystical energy, blah blah blah. I don't feel like doin' the whole spiel. What's important to understand is that it's through Gaia Energy that we can become one with our Pokémon."

"One with Pokémon?" Leo couldn't quite grasp what she meant. _Like, metaphorically?_

"Nia just happened to be visiting Ryme City on, uh, that one day. She and her Weavile have been a little obsessed since," Sonia elaborated. _Literally then, okay._

"Well, yeah. Though I've yet to find a way to truly connect man and Pokémon like on that day, we're already pretty close to it, however. Synergy power will only take us so far."

"What? What's Synergy power? Fu-all my attempts to have my questions answered only seems to raise more questions."

"Right, allow me to explain."

Nia proceeded to dump all the basic information on to him, which was a lot apparently. Now it appears Synergy power is a synch rate for the communication of man and Pokémon via thought projection. The speed of thought is only as fast as what the receiver can preemptively assume from the sender's message. A full understanding of your Pokémon is required to really effectively use an AR Gear. What's an AR Gear? It's an accessory created with mineralized Gaia Energy, or what's called a Synergy Stone. It acts as a translator for human thought. This all sounds amazing! Why isn't this everywhere? Well, it's expensive as fuck. The AR Gear has a simple, non-specialized, standardized design, and is in turn mostly inexpensive. However, the AR Gears for Pokémon? That's a different story entirely. While human physiology for the most part, y'know, doesn't change, Pokémon are wildly different from species to species. Some don't use verbal communication, some are tactile or scent based. Each species needs its own version of the AR Gear to appeal to its specialized forms of communication, and unfortunately, of the nearly nine hundred Pokémon species, only eighteen have had AR Gears specialized for them and have been mass produced as to be made widely commercially available. Even this took a lot of funding, and is a big reason as to why the Ferrum region is the only region with this kind of technology. What with the residents of Ferrum all being Pokémon Masters that've conquered their respective gyms, there was a lot of money being poured into this. However, the governments of the world have come to covet this technology, and really don't care how much it costs anymore, and without making a long story longer, it would put any current economy on steroids.

"F-wow," Leo soaked it up a little slow, but he liked to imagine how the entirety of the world could change with this technology. "So, what does that mean for me?" He asked, looking to Rubi, who'd joined the others in the ever growing game of tag. It seemed like he it was only ever Stella and Ember who were ever 'it'.

"Keen sense for one's desires," Nia remarked, he knew she'd be asking him for something. "You're going to be a beta tester for this new AR Gear. I'll even give you one for your Litwick," She said, tossing Leo his new earpiece. "You too Calypso." Joy got one too.

"Okay, cool. Question. If my Litwick is getting one as a bonus, then which of my Pokémon am I testing with?"

"Well, Litwick is coincidentally among the few Pokémon with a standardized AR Gear. Think of it as a benchmark for how a proper AR Gear should feel. As for the one you're testing, I'm calling in some people to pick up the ones I've readied, but you two will be the first to pick. I've got six to choose from."

She opened the case on the table next to her where there sat six pokéballs.

"All of these Pokémon are endangered species and are having AR Gears made to fit them in an attempt to encourage trainers to catch and protect them," She said, and proceeded to point to the pokéballs two at a time. "We've got two water-types, two grass-types, and two fire-types."

Leo looked back to his team, and consulted his Pokédex. _Hm, fire, grass, steel, ghost, and rock. What do I need next?_

"Can I see the water types?" He asked, and was passed the two pokéballs from the case on the right side. Tossing them on the floor, they released two adorable babies. _This is going to be hard._ He though, pointing his 'dex to them.

_Number 258: Mudkip - The Mud Fish Pokémon_

_Water_

_The fin on Mudkip's head acts as a highly sensitive radar. Using this fin to sense movements of water and air, this Pokémon can determine what is taking place around it without using its eyes_.

"Alright, yeah, yeah. Not bad." Leo confirmed to himself. The Mudkip looked confused, searching the room, waddling in place as it did so. It seems that this Pokémon wasn't native to Valour either, as its entries seemed to have been created by a Heonn researcher by the name of May.

This next one was foreign too. From the Alolan Islands, hm? It seems that there were two researchers extensively studying this one and its line: Eilo and Selene.

_Number 728: Popplio - The Sea Lion Pokémon_

_Water_

_The balloons it inflates with its nose grow larger and larger as it practices day by day._

"Alright. Nice, nice. What's nex-" He stopped his thoughts immediately when he felt something against his leg. Looking down, it was the Mudkip with its front paws(?) against his leg and looking up at him. Its little yellow caudal fins wiggled a bit.

Leo looked to his 'dex for answers. It seems this May woman observed Mudkip tracking down and finding food with their caudal fins. _Do I have food?_ He looked through his bag to find that yes, he did in fact. When he had left to start his Pokémon adventure, he had prepared a bunch of smaller items for the start of his journey. What with pokéballs and potions and whatnot. However, one thing he never ended up using was the all-purpose poffins he had bought. The one-size-fits-all food for pokémon somehow didn't fit any of his Pokémon. So he still had it, and now this Mudkip wanted some.

"Oh! Hey, buddy. Were you lookin' f'r this?" He asked, getting down closer to the Mudkip, holding the poffin to its face. "Yeah? It's okay, here you go buddy."

The Mudkip took the poffin into its mouth, and took a short step back. Leo was just sitting in front of the lad with his legs crossed at this point. As the Mudkip chomped on the poffin, Leo couldn't help but reach down and attempt to pet this 'smol child'. And he was successful.

"Oh, you're monchin' ain't ya? What a good boi!" Leo cooed, but turned to Sonia. "It's a boy rig-"

"It's a boy."

"Okay!" Leonardo continued to have fun petting this good boy, and took notice of his occasional tail whipping back and forth as well as his caudal fins twitching. _Oh, no. He likes this, and I like this. I don't think I'll be able to even think about picking a different one!_

* * *

"I want this lad right here!" He said, the Mudkip having finished the poffin and sitting in his lap a spell. "I'm gonna name him Finn MacCumhail!"

"Fin McCool?" Sonia inquired with a _really?_ kind of tone.

"Yeah, but like, spelled super weird."

"So you've decided on a water-type too?" Calypso called.

"That's right, Cally! Say hello to Finn MacCumhail!" He jumped to his feet, holding Finn in front of him, showing him off.

"Is it spelled as weird as I think it is?" Calypso giggled.

"Yea," He looked down to see the Pokémon in Calypso's arms. In her arms was a very happy looking Popplio. He'd be happy too, as her breasts came down to rest on its head. _Fuck, I wish that were me._

"You're staring Leo." Joy gained his attention once more. Oops.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" He tried defending himself.

"It's okay, just don't do it too much. You'll make Poppy nervous." She cooed to her Popplio, evidently named Poppy.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, Poppy." He sheepishly apologized. This was embarrassing: he knew she knew what he was really doing. Luckily, Professor Eucalyptus stopped it from getting worse.

"Right, I took a moment to put your Trainer ID into the Pokédex you gave me. Here you are," Nia passed him the 'dex. It's old white base and blue trim having been recoloured to a black with red trim. "Now, was there anything you wanted to ask, before your departure?"

Leonardo had almost dismissed the thought. He couldn't think of anything, but he had a question from the start of his journey, and maybe he might finally be able to have it answered.

"Professor," He addressed her, retrieving a flat hexagonal metallic disc from his bag. It was reddened and rusted on one side, most likely from the blood that was once on it. "This, I want to know what this is." Nia's eyes widened, and snatched it.

"This, this is what killed Amber, isn't it?"

"How did you know!?"

"There was a Steelix sighting, yes? See, Steelix shavings don't rust often. They have a protective film to stop such a thing. However, if the iron in blood, specifically human blood, were to scratch away this film-" She trailed off, and allowed Leo to piece it together. "But the most horrifying part is, the pristine shine this untouched half possesses. This cannot be achieved through the shavings of your everyday Steelix."

"Wait," Calypso jumped in. "So you mean to say it wasn't a Steelix, but a Mega Steelix?"

"Precisely."

"No," Leo couldn't believe it. He stepped back in denial and disbelief. "That doesn't mean-" _How could this have happened?_ His eyes became glazed with tears anew, and Calypso made to hold him, followed by all of their Pokémon, as he collapsed to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Leo," Professor Nia Eucalyptus could barely get through her statement through her tears. "Amber Anchor died, not of an accident, but of a premeditated attack." Leonardo screamed so loud, he could barely hear what she said next. "Amber Anchor was murdered."


End file.
